Repetition piano-action.



' PATENTED MAY 22; 1906. H. HAUSER.

4 HO an '0 7 v Q k m, m 1 y 1 M 4% f i PATENTED" MAY 22, 1906.

wm ma H. HAUSER. REPETITION PIANO ACTION. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30,1905.

. sists in the repetition piano- -UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 22, 1906.

Application filed March 30, 1905. Serial No. 252,809.

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY HAUSER, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and StateofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRepetition Piano-Actions, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in pianoactions, andhas for its object, among other things, to provide a repetition actionfor upright pianos in which the hammer will be caused to repeat its blowupon the string with the minimum movement of the key, as well as toaccomplish this result by mechanism so designed as to be economical toconstruct and assemble, simple in operation, and which at the same timewill contain all of the advantages of certainty of action and increasedgeneral efliciency.

To these and other ends my invention conaction having certain details ofconstruction and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter described,and more particularly pointed out in the claim.

Referring. to the drawings, in which like numerals of referencedesignate like parts in the several figures, Figure 1 is a sideelevation of my improved device, illustrating the relativeposition ofthe parts when at rest.

Fig.2 is a side elevation illustrating the parts in their relativeposition just before the hammer is to be actuated by the repetitionmechanism. Fig. 3 is a'side elevation with the parts in the relativepositions occupied b them after the butt has been operated by therepetition mechanism. Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of therepetition-lever, and Fi s. 5 and 6 are elevations of modified forms ofthe repetition connection.

In the drawings the numeral 1 designates the key 2, the action-rail 3,the damper-lever, which is pivotally connected with said. actionrail; 4,the damper; 14, the damper-stop rail, which limits the backward movementof the damper 5, the string; 6, the hammer; 7, the hammer-shank, whichis fixed in the butt 8, that is also pivotally connected with saidaction-rail 9, the buffer, which is rigidly secured to said butt 8, and1 0 the hammer-check, which is secured by the rod 11 to the wippen 12,also pivotally connected to said action-rail. Secured to the key uponthe top thereof is the adjustable capstan-screw 13, which engages theunder side of the wippen 12. Pivotally secured to the flange 15, fixedto the wippen 12, is the jack 16, that is normally pressed toward theaction-rail by the spring 17 and the heel of which engages in itsmovement the adjustable stop 18. The damper is actuated by the rod 19,fixed to the wippen and engaging the lower end of the damper-lever 3,.said damper being normally held against the string 5 by the sprin 20.

The parts hereinbefore descri ed form no part of the present inventionand operate in a wellown manner'i. e., by depressing the key the wippenis oscillated upon its pivot-mounting, and the jack wnich engages thebutt 8 oscillates said butt and moves the hammer forward, so that itstrikes the string 5, at which time the bufier 9 engages thehammer-check 10, as shown in Fig. 3, to prevent vibration, and when theheel of the jack 16 engages the adjustable stop 18 it is thrownoutwardly and disengaged from the butt and the spring 21 returns thebutt and hammer to their original positions. During the aforesaidoscillation of the wippen the rod 19 engages the end of the damper 3 andlifts the damper away from the string; but immediately upon the returnof said hammer and wippen to their original positions the rod isreleased from said lever and the spring 20 oscillates said damper-lever3 and throws the damper forward, so that it engages the string. When theheel ofthe ack 16 has been disengaged from the adjustable stop 18, thespring 17 throws the upper end thereof forwardly, so that it againengages the butt 8 ready to impart to the hammer another movement. Underthis construction a repetition blow can only be struck with the hammerwhen the end of the jack again engages the butt, as shown in Fig. 1,which necessitates the return of the key to its original position, andto provide means whereby this repetition blow may be struck withoutreturning the said key to its initial position the mechanism about to bedescribed and forming my invention has been designed. This mechanismcomprises a repetition-lever 22, which is pivotally secured to theflanges 23 on the wippen and is provided with a hole 24 therethrough,through which passes the rod 19, and provided upon its outer end with anadjustable stop 25, which is normally depressed by a spring 26,connected to said lever by a cord 27, a stoprail 28, and a connection29, which is shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 as pivoted at its upper end IIOto the butt 8 and resting upon. the bar 30, forming part of theaction-rail and lying between said action-rail and jack.

When the key is depressed, the repetitionlever moves with the wippenwithout being actuated in relation thereto until the wippen has nearlycompleted its movement, when the repetition-lever engages the stop-railand the forward end thereof is slightly depressed in relation to thewippen. \Vhen the pressure upon the key is removed, the wippen returnsto its original position and during the first part of this returnmovement of the wippen 12 the repetition-lever 22 is actuated by thespring 26 and through the auxiliary jack 29 holds the hammer up near thestring, and the jack 16, moved by the spring 17, engages the butt readyfor another blow, at which time the further actuation of the key willoperate the hammer and strike the repetition blow with but a slightreturn movement of the key.

The stop-rail 28 is supported by the screws 34 between the heads thereofand the fixed collars 36 and is adjustable vertically by the threadedengagement of the screws 34 with l the studs 35, fixed in theaction-rail 2.

The connection 29 may be constructed and mounted in various ways asidefrom that shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and to show the possibility ofsuch modifications I have illus trated a connection 29 in Fig. 5, whichis round in cross-section. and movable within lugs 31, fixed to theaction-rail 2, and in Fig. 6 I have illustrated a connection 29 as beingsecured to a plate 32, fixed to the action-rail 2 by links 33.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

In a pianoaction, the combination with the action-rail; of apivotally-mounted butt, having a hammer connected therewith; a wippenpivotally secured to said action-rail; a jack connected with said wippenand ad apted to engage said butt; a repetition-lever pivotally securedbetween its ends to said wippen; spring means connected with said wippenand engaging one end of said repetition lever; a stop-rail for limitingthe movement of said repetition-lever and adjustable in the path of thefree end thereof; and an auxiliary jack between said repetition-leverand. butt, said auxiliary jack having contact with and adjacent to thefree end of said repetition lever and lying between said action-rail andstop-rail.

In testimony whereof I a'lfix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY HAUSER.

Witnesses:

GEORGE E. HALL, FRED L. Woon, Jr.

